Book-rest



(No'ModeL) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

A. R. BYRKIT.

BOOK REST.

No. 389,952. Patented Sept. 25, 1888'.

flttorney (No Model.) I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. R. BYRKIT.

BOOK REST. No. 389,952. Patented Sept. 25, 1888.

WITNESSES ,Z'cZwL'n Z yew'ezz out the several views.

ARCHIBALD R. BYRKIT,

Book- FATENT @rrrca.

OF FAIRFIELD, IO\V A.

REST.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 389,952, datedSeptember 25, 1888.

Application filed February 5., 1888.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, ARCHI'BALD R. BYRKIT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fairfield, in the county of Jefferson and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Book-Rests; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to that class of devices commonly known as book-rests, which are attached to chairs or the like for the purpose ofsupporting books and writing-tables; and it has for its object to provide a device of this character which will present a neat appearance, be easily adjusted into position for use either as to height, inclination, or distance from the user, and readily swung to one side out of the way, so as not to interfere with the use of the chair, and is of few parts and simple construction and therefore not liable to get out of repair; and it consists of the parts and combinations of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved device attached to a chair, the seat being partly broken away to show underlying parts; Fig. 2, a detail perspective view of my improved corner-clamp for a desk or table; Fig. 3, a detail perspective view of the adjustable arm for supporting the bookshelf; Fig. 4, a detail perspective view of the enlarged end ofthe rod supporting the adjustable arm and the pivotserew for the same; Fig. 5, a view of the under or reverse side of the base-plate; Fig. 6, a side or edge view of said base-plate, and Fig. 7 a detail view of tubular rod and connections.

Similar letters referto similar parts through- A represents a chair, to the under side of the seat-frame a of which is secured, by means of screws, the base-plate B, (see Figs. 5 and 6,) which consists of the plate I), having the projecting or raised bearing 0 cast therewith, from the center of which a stnd, d, having its outer end screw-th readed, projects. This plate is provided with a suitable number of perforations, through which the screws pass to se- Scrial No. 262,790. (No model.)

cure it to the under side of the seat or seatframe, and, while it may be of any desired shape in outline, it should have on one side the extension shown at c, to which one end of a strap, f, of metal, is pivotally secured by a 'ing the parts separate instead of casting them in one piece, is to enable the device to be used on all kinds of chairs, the strap being adjusted to the distance between thefront and side bars of the seat-frame after the plate is screwed to the side bar and then secured to the front bar.

A curved arm, 0, having a curved slot, 9, formed therein and a sleeve, D, on its end at right angles to the arm, is'placcd on the stud d and works around the same, being held in position by a bindingnut, h, which permits the movement of the arm about the stud, but retains it firmly on the same. A tubular rod or standard, E, is inserted in the sleeveD and is adjustable vertically therein and held in its adjusted position by a thumb-screw, t, which passes through a screw-threaded perforation formed in the wall of the sleeve.

Within the tubular standard E is inserted or telescoped a rod, F, the upper end,G,of which is enlarged and circular in shape, and is formed with a central countersunk perforation, m, and an arc-shaped slot, a, concentric with said central perforation, forming one half or part of a rule-joint, the other half, H, being formed on one end of a rod, J, the latter having a screwthreaded perforation, 0, formed in its center to correspond with the perforation m, and also a screw threaded perforation, p, of

smaller diameter, near the periphery of the enlargement and at the foot of and about in line with the longitudinal axis of the rod J. Both the rods F and J are formed with arcshaped offsets r, so that when the two halves of the joint are brought together said offsets will fit over and bear on the peripheries of the ends of the rods, thereby guiding and steadying the joint in its movements and strengthening the same. Aserew, s, is inserted in the perforation in and screwed into the perforation o to hold the parts together and yet permit the rod Jto be adjusted up or down or toward and from the chair, and a thumb-screw, t, is passed through the slot n and into the serew-threaded 5 perforation p to hold the rod or arm J at any desired angle of inclination to which it may be turned. The outer or free end of arm or rod J is cast with a sleeve, K, at right angles thereto, having a lug, L, on one side thereof provided with a screw-threaded perforation, said lug and sleeve being split longitudinally or in the direction of their length, the split extending a shortdistance into the end of the rod J, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. A thumbscrew, Z, is passed through the perforation in the split lug for the purpose of drawing the parts together to bind the shelf or book-restsupporting arm M,one end of which is inserted in said sleeve rigidly in place, and at the same time permit of it being adjusted therein, so

as to give the shelf N,whieh is rigidly secured to the arm M, the desired angle of inclination by merely loosening the thumb-screw Z. A collar, 1, having a set-screw, a, working in a screw-threaded perforation formed in its wall, is slipped on rod F before it is inserted in the standard E for the purpose of holding said rod at anyheight to which it maybe adjusted, the screw it being tightened against the rod to hold the collar rigid, and thelatter resting on the upper end of the standard, while a thumbserew, o, is passed through the wall at the up per end of the standard and against the rod to prevent the same turning in the standard.

5 The writing leaf or tableRis secured at the desired height on standard E by means of the corner-iron S. (Shown in Fig. 2 and in dotted lines in Fig. 1.) This iron has two arms, to, proj ectin g at right angles to each other, and on the 0 opposite side, at the corner thereof, are formed two jaws, y, curving toward each other, and in one of them is formed a screw-threaded perforation to receive a thumbscrew, 00, whereby, the jaws being made to embrace the standard,

the corner-iron. may be secured thereto by tightening the screw against the same. The

corner-iron S is screwed to one corner of the table R, and the latter may be provided with a drawer for paper, ink, &c., if desired.

Thus it will be seen that, owing to the curve of the slotted arm (1, I am enabled to bring the standard E close to the leg of the chair, and by adjusting the arm by means of its slots I can move the samein or out to accommodate an arm or projection on the chair. It will also be understood that the standard and rod F may be adjusted vertically, and that thelatter may also be turned in the standard by merely loosening the screw 12, and thus swing the arm or rod J, with the shelf, back or to either side; that the rod-arm Jmay be turned on its joint to raise or lower the shelfor move it toward or from the person using the same, and, finally, that the shelf itself may be adjusted to any desired angle of inclination by merely loosening the screw 1.

Having thus described my invention, whatI claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A base-plate for a book-rest, consisting of the plate I), having the extension 0 on one side thereof and the projecting bearing and screw-threaded stud, and the metallic strap pivotally secured to said extension, substantially as described.

2. The combination, in a book-rest, of the base-plate b, the bearing-plate c, projecting laterally and vertically from said base-plate, the screw-threaded stud projecting vertically from said bearing-plate, the curved arm having a curved slot formed in its body and a sleeve cast on one end thereof at right angles to said arm, and a suitable standard for supporting the book-holder, substantially as described.

3. The combination, in a book-rest, of the base plate having the bearing and screwthreaded stud projecting therefrom, the met-at lic strap pivoted to said plate, the curved slotted arm working on said stud and having a sleeve formed on one end, the tubular standard inserted in said sleeve, the rod having the enlarged circular end provided with a central perforation and a curved slot concentric therewith, the rod or arm J, having the enlarged circular end and provided with the screwthreaded perforations 0 p on one end and a sleeve on the other, and a suitable shelf and supporting-arm, substantially as described.

4. The combination, in abook-rest having a tubular standard adj ustably secured to its base, of an adjustable rod inserted in said standard, the rod J, hinged at one end to said adjustable rod and having a lug and sleeve cast with its opposite end, said lug and sleeve and end of rod being split in the direction of their length, a thumb-screw, t, for holding the rod J in its adjusted position, the shelf-supporting-arm, and a thumb screw, Z, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the base-plate of a book-rest, of the curved slotted arm having the sleeve cast on the end of the same at right angles thereto, the screw working in a perforation in said sleeve, the tubular standard inserted in saidsleeve, the rod F, inserted in said standard, a screw for holding said rod rigid, a collar surrounding the rod, a screw for holding said collar rigid, a rod or arm, J, hinged to the upper end of rod F and having a split sleeve and lug formed on its free end, a screw for binding the same together, and a shelf-supporting arm inserted in said sleeve, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with the adjustable standard of a book-rest, of the desk or table B, having the angle-iron S, provided with the curved jaws formed on the corner of the same and the thumbscrcw working through one of said jaws, substantially as described.

7. The combination, in a book-rest, of the plate I), having the lateral extension and the ICC) IAO

bearing and screwthreaded stud projecting In testimony whereof I affix my signature in from said plate, the metallic strap pivoted to presence of two witnesses. said extension,the curved arm having a curved slot formed in its body and a sleeve cast on AROHIBALD BYRKIT' 5 one end thereof at right angles to said arm, and Vitnesses:

a suitable standard for supporting the book- HENRY H. BRIGHTON, rest, substantially as described. DAVID B. WILSON. 

